Little Louder Now (Harry Styles/One direction fanfic)

Chapter 41: Lilourry

Chapter 41:  Lilourry

*Niall's POV*

I woke up to a pounding noise.  I slowly sat up in my bed to figure out what it was.  I stretched my arms over my head lazily and then wiped the sleep from my eyes.  I looked over and noticed Charlie was no longer in my bed with me but then I heard running water and singing.  She was no doubt in the shower.  The pounding sound started up again.  My room was closest to the stairwell and I realized the noise was someone hammering a fist on our front door.

I carefully untangled my legs from my duvet and threw on a shirt that was on the floor by my bed.  I surveyed my room.  It was a pit and by my count, we had only today and tomorrow before our gang all went on tour.  Getting it cleaned up was on my 'to do' list but I'm a procrastinator when it came to this shit.  The pounding on the door resounded.  "I'm coming!" I shouted.  "Don't get your knickers in a twist," I mumbled more to myself.

I started to walk into the hallway and bumped into Lou and Zayn.  They had obviously heard the ruckus too.  We made our way downstairs and sleepily opened the door.  We really did need that peephole.

A man of about 25 who looked remarkably like that English actor Alex Pettyfer or whatever the fuck his name is was waiting.  He was standing at our door wearing some khaki cargo pants and a black muscle tee.  It was unusual attire since it was a brisk morning.  You could see small white puffs coming from his mouth and hanging in the crisp early morning air.  He scratched his head in confusion and asked in a heavy Irish accent, not much different from my own "do I have the right house?"

"I dunno mate.  Do you?" Lou asked sarcastically, putting a hand on his hip sassily.  Zayn frowned and punched Louis in the arm.  I had been yawning when I began to laugh so the sound came out in a weird strangled tone.

I inspected the lad as he spoke.  "Simon Cowell hired me.  The name is Ken.  I'm supposed to be looking after three girls.  No offense, but you are the three ugliest, most masculine ladies I've ever seen," he told us, putting his hand out in offering.  Zayn and Lou sniggered at his remark.  I took his hand and shook it.  Ken's grip was like a vice, making my hand hurt.  Once he released my hand, I opened and closed it in an attempt to regain feeling in the tips of my fingers whilst trying not to show that I was in pain.

"Oh so you're they're bodyguard?" Zayn said in recognition.  I remembered Uncle Si telling us something about this lad in his office.   I expected someone older and more like Paul than some young, buff, model wannabe.  "Wanna come in?  The girls are somewhere inside and it's cold out," Zayn said, mirroring my own thoughts from earlier.

"Yeah," Ken told us, stepping over the threshold into our entryway.  "I didn't think you guys were my new charges."  He rubbed his well defined arms, trying to warm them up.  "I didn't realize how cool it was when I looked out my window this morning.  I was just glad it wasn't raining so I threw on whatever," he laughed.

"Well, Charlie is getting ready so she'll be down in a few," I announced to everyone.

"Charlie?  Sounds like a lad's name," Ken snorted.

"Definitely not a lad.  Just ask our Niall here," Louis informed him.  "I'm Louis and this is Zayn and that's Niall, Charlie's boyfriend," he introduced, jerking a thumb in our directions.  "We're in the band that Little Louder Now is touring with."

"Makes sense," Ken said, looking around our large foyer in awe.

"Do you want a cuppa while waiting for everyone else to come downstairs?" Zayn suggested, being a good host.

"Sounds like a plan.  Mornings are always awful," he told us making a face as we all made our way towards the kitchen.  It made me smile because I knew exactly what he meant.  Why everything for One Direction had to be scheduled early in the morning always baffled me.  I knew our fans didn't necessarily want to get up at the ass crack of dawn to watch us on breakfast programs and radio interviews.  It didn't stop them from watching and listening though.  Our fans are wonderfully dedicated.  They even stay up late for us to watch our infrequent twitcams.  "I would have come this afternoon, but Mr. Cowell told me to get my arse over here early so I wouldn't accidentally miss the lasses in case they went out," Ken smiled as Zayn walked around the kitchen, grabbing mugs and starting the kettle.